Boys’ Basketball: CdM owns Back Bay

The Battle of the Bay boys’ basketball game between Corona del Mar High and rival Newport Harbor once again went down to the wire.

For the second time in as many seasons, the contest was tight with less than a minute to go. Last season, the two programs were even when the Sea Kings gained possession with 40 seconds left. This time around, CdM led by one, and with 40 seconds to go and the Sea Kings with the ball, DJ Rodman said all he thought about was the player who won it for CdM last season.

It was Rodman’s turn this season to put the dagger in the Sailors. With the shot clock winding down, the sophomore knocked down a three-pointer to clinch the Sea Kings’ 52-46 win at home on Thursday.

Rodman also came up with a key steal down the stretch, allowing CdM to defeat Newport Harbor for the ninth consecutive time.

Rodman, who finished with 14 points, came through in the clutch. He was the one who also gave CdM a 47-46 lead by making a free throw with 1:39 remaining.

Then the Sea Kings (9-3) went to Rodman with the game on the line. Out of a timeout and with 17 seconds left on the shot clock, CdM ran an isolation play for him.

“That’s what I wanted it,” Rodman said. “I wanted to take the shot, and I got it.”

Rodman buried the shot from the top of the arc with 25 seconds left, giving CdM a 50-46 lead.

Another late CdM three-pointer put away Newport Harbor in the Back Bay rivalry. Last season it was Sam Kobrine draining a three with seven seconds left to lift the Sea Kings to a 51-48 win at Newport Harbor.

“The kid made a big shot right there and it extended [the lead] to four points, and that was it,” Newport Harbor Coach Bob Torribio said of Rodman.

“I hope people love coming to watch us to play because we scrap and we play hard. When you play as hard as we do, you’re never out of it.”

Newport Harbor (8-5) clawed its way back from a 14-point deficit in the first quarter.

The Sea Kings started the night making their first three shots. And when they missed their first shot, there was Rodman with the putback to put the Sea Kings up, 10-2, with 3½ minutes left in the first quarter.

The field goal gave Rodman six points, and he outscored the Sailors by himself in the first eight minutes. Newport Harbor struggled in the first quarter, going two for 10 from the field. There was a 4½-minute stretch where the Sailors went without any points in the opening quarter.

Jake Hamilton came off the bench for CdM and knocked down two three-pointers in a 57-second span. With about two minutes left in the first, the Sea Kings took their biggest lead at 16-2.

The next 10 minutes saw the Sailors get back in it, and the Sea Kings aided their cause by committing fouls and sending them to the free-throw line. One of CdM’s better players, Kevin Kobrine (10 points), picked up his third foul with 5:52 left in the first half.

The Sailors cut the deficit to 28-22 right before halftime. At the free-throw line in the second quarter is where Newport Harbor made its comeback, converting nine of 12 foul shots.

Collin Pipkin and Brad Siegel helped Newport Harbor get within 41-40 early in the fourth quarter. Pipkin had five of his 15 points in the fourth, and Siegel finished with 12 points.

Three-point plays by Pipkin and Sam Barela pulled the Sailors even with CdM at 46-46 with 2:35 left. But they could never manage to take the lead. Rodman didn’t let them.

“I didn’t think it was going to have to come down to a three-pointer to seal the game, but it did,” CdM Coach Ryan Schachter said. “DJ struggled all game. [Dayne] Chalmers did a great job on him, harassing him, and just [getting] in his face. In the post, they were throwing double teams at DJ. He kind of lost his composure a little bit and got a little rattled, but he came through at the end.”

Battle of the Bay

Corona del Mar 52, Newport Harbor 46

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport Harbor 5 – 17 – 14 – 10 — 46

Corona del Mar 16 – 12 – 11 – 13— 52

NH – Pipkin 15, Siegel 12, Barela 7, Chalmers 6, Blaine 4, Bashore 2.

3-pt. goals – Chalmers 1, Pipkin 1, Barela 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

CdM – Rodman 14, Kobrine 10, Humphreys 8, Hamilton 6, Coffman 4, Schwartz 4, Jones 4, Haly 2.

3-pt. goals – Hamilton 2, Rodman 1, Humphreys 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.